Hilly Kristal, founder of NY punk mecca CBGB, dies
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hilly Kristal, the founder of New York punk rock club CBGB, which helped make the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads stars, has died at age 75.
Through High School and College, I hung out at CBGB's seeing some of the best punk bands of the 80s there, including The Ramones, The Dead Kennedy's, The Circle Jerks, Agnostic Front, The Exploited, GBH, Murphy's Law, MDC, Channel 3, The Bad Brains and even The Beastie Boys. In October of last year, CBs closed leaving a hole in the hearts of those kids like me that grew up going to the all-age matinee shows or later to marathon shows that went through 4 AM. Many bands like Television, NY Dolls, Blondie, the Talking Heads and the Ramones owe much of their success to Hilly. All those acts that followed, from the Sex Pistols to Green Day, have of course benefitted as well. Today is a sad day for me.
RIP, Hilly!
By the way, the first girl I fell in love with was a regular at CBGB's. She had the greatest ink and piercings, back in 1982. Without Hilly, I would not be at SG.
Published? nooooooo lol.